Links

Abstract

The prediction of large-scale coastal change is an extremely important, but distant goal. Here we describe some of our initial efforts in this direction, using historical bathymetric information along a 150 km reach of the rapidly evolving barrier island coast of Louisiana. Preliminary results suggest that the relative sea level rise rate, though extremely high in the area, has played a secondary role in coastal erosion over the last 100 years, with longshore transport of sand-sized sediment being the primary cause. Prediction of future conditions is hampered by a general lack of erosion processes understanding; however, an examination of the changing volumes of sand stored in a large ebb-tidal delta system suggests a continued high rate of shoreline retreat driven by the longshore re-distribution of sand.

Study Area

Additional publication details

Publication type:

Conference Paper

Publication Subtype:

Conference Paper

Title:

Large-scale coastal evolution of Louisiana's barrier islands

ISBN:

0872628086

Year Published:

1991

Language:

English

Publisher:

Publ by ASCE

Publisher location:

New York, NY, United States

Contributing office(s):

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Description:

15 p.

Larger Work Title:

Coastal Sediments '91; Volume 2

First page:

1532

Last page:

1546

Conference Title:

Proceedings of a Specialty Conference on Quantitative Approaches to Coastal Sediment Processes